DM SUMMIT…CAMPUS HIGHLIGHT…MONEY ON MY MIND…DEMOCRACY SPRING…IDEA OF THE MONTH…QUOTE OF THE MONTH…FACTS YOU CAN USE…
15th DEMOCRACY MATTERS SUMMIT
What a terrific time we all had sharing our organizing successes and failures, brainstorming new outreach and recruitment techniques, networking and making new friends. Our keynote speaker, Connecticut’s Senator Gary Winfield, was inspirational! He explained how running as a publicly financed candidate gave him the freedom to successfully champion “controversial” issues – the abolition of the death penalty, protection of transgender people from discrimination, racial profiling, educational reform, and more.
Joan’s talk updated us on recent public financing victories. On November 3rd, voters overwhelmingly supported public campaign financing in ballot referenda in Maine (“Accountable Elections”) and in Seattle, WA (“Honest Elections.”) Meanwhile in Connecticut, legislators reaffirmed their commitment to public campaign financing by beating back an attack on the state’s “Citizens Election” law.
The Summit’s interactive workshops and breakout groups gave us new ideas to take back to our campuses. Meeting students from all over the country who are so passionate about getting big money out of politics makes it clear that our movement is gaining strength every day!
Check out the handouts for the Summit workshops here.
CAMPUS HIGHLIGHT: SKIDMORE COLLEGE
Congratulations to Democracy Matters at Skidmore College, recently honored by the President of their school for leadership in Civic Engagement. That recognition is well deserved because they’ve accomplished a lot this fall. Skidmore DMers ran a voter registration drive and collected signatures for DM’s “Restore Democracy” pledge. They organized a well-attended Presidential debate-watch party and a faculty forum called “Democracy For Sale: Highjacking the 2016 Presidential Campaign.” Skidmore DM was also well represented at the Summit – chapter members posed with Senator Gary Winfield in the picture below. Go Skidmore DM!!
MONEY ON MY MIND
In order to achieve its goals, should a social movement publicly criticize politicians or try to maintain friendly relations with them? Is pressure or persuasion more effective in obtaining support for real reform, or do we need both? Jay Mandle argues that because of the Presidential campaign, this is an especially timely question for the money-in-politics movement to debate.
Read the full article and explore other issues of MOMM.
DEMOCRACY SPRING
Big events in Washington DC and elsewhere are being planned to highlight the importance of the fight to get money out of politics and people back in. One such group, of which Democracy Matters is a supporter, is “Democracy Spring.”
On April 2nd, Democracy Spring supporters will begin a ten day march from the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia to the US Capitol to demand that Congress take immediate action to “save our democracy.” The marchers will be greeted by a rally of thousands of supporters. If Congress does not act immediately, a number of Democracy Spring activists plan to engage in non-violent civil disobedience, sitting in and risking arrest to emphasize the seriousness of their demand for a government of, by and for the American people.
Learn more and sign up to be part of the march, the rally, or the civil disobedience action.
IDEA OF THE MONTH: DM IOWA CALLING CAMPAIGN TRAINING
On December 1st Democracy Matters is launching its “Iowa Calling Campaign.” DMers will be calling voters in Iowa right up to the February 1st Iowa caucuses (the first test of the 2016 Presidential candidates). We want Iowa voters to know that money in politics and public campaign financing are the most important issues in this Presidential campaign. What happens in Iowa influences the entire 2016 election.
Join the training call on Tuesday, December 1st, at 8:30 pm (EST). The call-in number is 641-715-3277 and the pin is 671173#.
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“There is nothing more dangerous than a government of the many controlled by the few.”
Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law, Harvard University; former 2016 Presidential candidate.
https://www.facebook.com/RepresentUs/photos_stream
FACTS YOU CAN USE: NEW POLL FINDS VOTERS ON OUR SIDE!
The latest poll (Pew Research Center, Nov. 23, 2015) finds that very large majorities of Americans not only are deeply worried about the outsized influence of big money in our political system, but also support reforms to limit private money in politics.
- 75% of Americans – including large majorities of both Republicans (72%) and Democrats (84%) – favor “limiting the amount of money that individuals and organizations can spend on campaigns and issues.”
- 76% – including identical shares of Republicans and Democrats – say money “has a greater role in politics than in the past.”
- 62% (up from 51% in 2006) believe that “new campaign laws would be effective in reducing big money’s influence in politics.”
- “Influenced by special interest money” was the most frequent answer when people were asked “what is the biggest problem with elected officials in Washington.”
- 74% say elected officials “put their own interests ahead of the country’s.”
- 64% agree that the high cost of running a presidential campaign discourages many good candidates from running.
Click here for complete polling results.
To honor our 2015 activists, we list ten Democracy Matters chapters in each E-News:
VASSAR COLLEGE…WESTMINSTER COLLEGE…ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY…APPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY…BENNETT COLLEGE…BENNINGTON COLLEGE…BOSTON UNIVERSITY…BRIDGEWATER STATE UNIVERSITY…COLGATE UNIVERSITY…DES MOINES AREA COMMUNITY COLLEGE…